Chapter 111: The Downside of Playing Games
Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
– Yesterday, at the gathering in the Wind and Moon Pavilion –
Despite its small size, Origin Internet Cafe had posed a great threat to many businesses in Jiuhua City.
The casinos, Qin Mountain Beast Garden, and even brothels, which had been highly profitable businesses, were now feeling the impact.
Under the push of certain people, the upper-cla.s.s figures in Jiuhua City began to turn their attention to the unusual phenomena. Started by Pang Rulie and led by Huo Chong, they gathered together to discuss how to deal with this small shop that came from the blue.
Qin Bing came for this purpose.
As the director of Lingyun Academy, Qin Bing supervised the four houses: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang. His power was only next to that of the old Academy Master and the Vice Masters.
In the past years, he had gradually taken over the responsibility of making rules for the entire academy and had become a part of the management of Lingyun Martial Arts Tower. The rumors said that he would become a vice master of the academy after one of the current Vice Masters retired.
It was even possible that he could become the academy master and manage the entire Lingyun Academy in the future.
However, in this key period of his career, some disciples kept skipping cla.s.ses and went to play in the internet cafe. He couldn’t allow such things to continue.
Both the disciples who skipped cla.s.ses and Origin Internet Club became his targets.
With his ident.i.ty, he naturally sat at the head of the first table.
The guests sitting at this table had high status. If he hadn’t organized the meeting, Pang Rulie wouldn’t have been qualified to sit among them.
As the manager of the Wind and Moon Pavilion, Xiang Heqing took care of most of the affairs in the business, and the owner of the business didn’t come to the gathering.
“Master Huo, what do you propose?” Wearing a silky black robe, Xiang Heqing looked as meticulous as the Wind and Moon Pavilion which was under his management.
“In my opinion, we should ask An Huwei to close the shop!” While Qin Bing spoke, the white hairs on his temples shook with anger.
“Elder Qin! Calm down! Calm down! You’re busy managing Lingyun Academy, and I guess that you didn’t have time to follow the news in Jiuhua City,” Huo Chong cupped his hands and said, “After some investigation, I found that this shop has a solid background and powerful customers. If we try to close the shop, we might encounter some resistance.”
“Is there anyone who dares to work against Lingyun Academy?” Qin Bing didn’t use to think that this whole incident was a big issue, but he began to realize that this shop wasn’t as simple as he had imagined from the scale of this gathering and the great concern which the influential figures here showed.
Huo Chong leaned over and said one word in his deep voice, “Nalan.”
“The head.”
Qin Bing’s face turned grim. He stroked his beard and said, “This issue is not simple!”
“For the time being, we must be careful with our methods,” Huo Chong said.
“Master Huo, what’s your plan?” Pang Rulie asked.
“First, we can cut into the issue from the perspective of the side effects,” Huo Chong said.
“Side effects?” Pang Rulie asked curiously, “The shop has been open for a long time, so it shouldn’t have caused any side effects, right?”
“If we are picky…” Xiang Heqing snorted, “How about its customers getting drunk and making trouble in my business?”
Huo Chong chuckled, “It doesn’t count.”
He knew that such small incidents couldn’t overturn Origin Internet Club.
He clapped his hands, and a young man who looked like him quickly came out with doc.u.ments.
He told this young man, “Feng, distribute them to the guests.”
“Yes, Father.” The young man nodded and handed the doc.u.ments to the guests.
“August 3rd. In the southern region of Jiuhua City, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+yuan, who was 16 years old, got addicted to games to the point that he couldn’t tell the virtual world from reality. He jumped down from a 15-meter-tall cliff, yelling ‘sword control technique’. He died of the fatal injuries sustained from the fall.”
“August 5th. In the southwest region of Jiuhua City, Xue Changgui, who was a free warrior, wanted to get money for playing games, so he robbed an old man from the Yang Family. He was imprisoned by Jiuhua City for robbery.”
“August 9th…”
Qin Bing read the doc.u.ments and asked in astonishment, “Are they real?”
After looking at his son, Huo Chong put on a meaningful smile. About 80 percent of the stories were exaggerated, but they looked real.
They had prepared the doc.u.ments for a long time. Otherwise, the gathering would have been held earlier.
Huo Chong nodded and said in an indignant tone, “These games look harmless, but in fact… Look at the real cases in your hands! Who can say that the games have no side effects?”
“Every player keeps thinking of playing the games once they get hooked. Isn’t it the side effect?” Huo Chong asked in a loud voice, “Like drugs, they are addictive! They can make people lose their mind!”
“That is why we must boycott this small shop and these games!” Huo Chong said coldly, “We must declare war on this stuff!”
“Besides, you must never try anything from this small shop!” Huo Chong looked around and said, “Otherwise, you’ll get addicted and can never get yourself out!”
His words struck fear into many people’s mind, and they decided to avoid the games as if they were poisonous snakes!
“I hope that you can spread these words to your family, relatives, and customers and ask them to join the boycott!”
“Well said!” Qin Bing slammed the table and stood up as he shouted. “I’ll do my best. At least, none of the disciples of the Lingyun Academy will set foot into this small shop in the future!”
…
After opening his shops in the morning, Fang Qi went back to sleep and didn’t get up until near noon.
When he went downstairs, Fang Qi found that there were only a few people in the shop.
He glanced around and asked Jiang Xiaoyue, “What’s wrong?”
“How would I know?” The loli who was sitting behind the counter looked around the shop in bafflement, saying, “There were only a few customers this morning. Strange!”
Usually, the shop would be full at this hour, but it was still empty today.
Jiang Xiaoyue was anxious. “What happened?”
Then, she glanced at Fang Qi. “Hey! Why do you look so calm?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t care if they come or not.” Fang Qi waved his hand casually. Since the System didn’t set a target for the number of customers, he didn’t care that much. Besides, now that he had finished the new task, he was wondering about the Game Cultivation Room.
“Game Cultivation Room? What on earth is it…” Fang Qi turned on the interface and clicked on the task reward b.u.t.ton in a hurry.